Dazzle is now 18 months old. I haven't posted in over a week because there hasn't been much new going on. Same ol' same ol' - Almost daily training sessions in the basement, occasional outings, though not when it's 16 degrees outside! And lots of me in a hibernating funk while Dazzle tries desperately to get me to play.
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He did succeed a bit ago and I went out to throw the ball for him with the chuck-it (best invention ever!) For fun, I decided to measure the distance he usually runs. While not exact because sometimes it is a shorter throw, it usually involves more than the actual distance when the ball bounces funny; I measured it as 170' one way. So that means he does approx. 340' per fetch. Since I'm anal and have nothing better to do while standing there tossing the ball, I usually count how many times I throw it. It averages about 30 before I get too cold or he gets too hot depending on the weather :-) So that means he runs non-stop for just shy of 2 miles in about 10-15 minutes!
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Our Agility class on Monday went really well (regular instructor was back) and I like how they have the class set-up in three different areas with the class split between three instructors. It puts 2 or 3 people per group/area, so there is very little waiting time and lots of different activities. This week had more "running" on my part and I was really sore afterwards. I'll have to put on some braces for next week. I have been working on "send outs" and "lead outs" so I don't have to run :-) He's doing well with both. We skip a monday, so I have 2 weeks to work on the "relax on a mat" they do before each class. Dazzle is surprizing me with how well he's doing. I'm clicking for any sign of relaxation and he seems to be getting it. Today he offered lying on his side! It was brief, and he was stiffly waiting for the click, but we can shape that into more relaxation. I will definitely be using this for ClickerExpo in Lexington in March. :-) He should be fully conditioned to it by then.
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The exercise egg arrived and I got it partly inflated with the help of a small compressor used to put air in a flat car tire. It says to partly inflate it, then wait 24 hours before adding more air. So I just added more air today. Here are some photos of Dazzle on his new toy. He has no fear of it and seems to enjoy getting on it, offering sit, down, high 5, sit-up, etc. :-) I only got photos of the sit though.
